Assignment Description
Your goal is to make a persuasive argument based on your thorough research that will help move a debate forward, solve a pressing problem, and/or resolve disagreements. You may find it useful to consider the stases. Your argument can do one or more of the following:
- show that a problem exists or that it’s serious enough to merit action;
- identify the cause of that problem; or define a key term; and/or
- advocate for a way to respond to and solve the problem.
You might find it useful to address multiple stases. (It is common for arguments to define the problem and then advocate for a fitting solution.) Your goal is to move the debate forward by addressing the stasis or stases that are subject to disagreement. This is to say, if most people agree that a problem exists, the core of your argument should not be that a problem exists. This also means that you do not necessarily need to argue for a particular solution to the problem; if the debate is mired by disagreements on the lower stases, you can make a significant contribution by helping people agree on definition or cause-and-effect, etc.
Important Guidelines
- Word Count: The cover letter should be at least 500 words. The research essay should be at least 1900 words, including References.
- Include a reflective cover letter that has two parts:
- Part 1: discusses your writing process, including how peer and instructor feedback played into revision decisions and giving specific examples of what you changed throughout the process
- Part 2: discusses, with specific examples from your writing and process, how this project has helped you progress towards the following Student Learning Outcomes: (2) Engage in responsible, systematic research practices informed by critical reading and rhetorical analysis, including locating and evaluating a range of materials and (3) Ethically synthesize and integrate the ideas of others using an appropriate citation style.
- Early in the essay, you should offer your thesis statement, and the remainder of the paper should offer support for this position and persuade readers to support the position.
- Your argument should be supported by clear and credible research.
- Should cite at least eight sources.
- Include a Works Cited page.
- Your Works Cited page and in-text citations should follow MLA or APA Format.
- Your paper should address a significant counterargument. Two additional criteria apply:
- You should cite, fairly summarize, and respond to a real counterargument. Don’t imagine what an opposing audience might argue—instead, find a real person who makes a real and sophisticated argument and address it.
- This doesn’t need to come at the end of your paper (i.e., before the conclusion). Though this can be effective, it is often more effective to address a counterargument early: “Here’s what’s wrong with the common approach; now let me outline a more promising approach…”
- It should focus on the readers’ needs—what do they already know? What do they need to know? How can you make complex ideas and information clear or accessible to readers?
- It should be clearly organized.
Submission
Your submission, including the cover letter and references, should be at least 2400 words. The cover letter should be single-spaced but everything else should be double-spaced, following MLA or APA guidelines. Submit the assignment as a single .pdf, .doc, or .docx file.